The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Breath of the Wild took players and journalists by storm when it graced the world with its expansive, freedom oriented open world design on March 3, 2017.

While not exclusive to the Switch, it was a huge departure from previous installments in the series simply because it offered pure, unadulterated freedom to gamers.

Climb a huge mountain? If you can best it it can be done. Take out enemies in non-conventional ways? Creativity is encouraged. Interesting and rewarding puzzles, locales, and items tucked away in a huge landscape? Open ended exploration is the name of the game.

Previous entries such as Ocarina of Time, A Link to the Past, and Majora’s Mask offered compelling Zelda trademarks like interesting characters and puzzle driven labyrinths known as dungeons, but no other Zelda has offered an entirely open world, allowing for true exploration.

Breath of the Wild amiibo Unlocks

There are many different amiibo for Breath of the Wild but the real highlights are the Zelda themed amiibo and amiibo for the 4 different champions in the game. Below are the Champion amiibo as well as what they unlock:

Daruk – The Goron Champion has an exclusive unlock which is the Vah Rudania Divine Helm. Chests from this amiibo can drop the Stone Smasher and diamonds, and other miscellaneous items that can unlock with the Daruk amiibo include rock salt, opal, luminous stones, rubies, sapphire, topaz, amber, and flint.

In addition to the 4 Zelda Champion amiibo there is a Zelda themed amiibo, the Wolf Link amiibo, that changes the game in a pretty interesting manner.

By scanning the Wolf Link amiibo you can summon a Wolf Link pet/sidekick. Your Wolf Link sidekick will hunt, fight, scavenge, and help you in the pursuit of shrines.

Other Breath of the Wild themed amiibo include the following:

Zelda

Rider Link

Bokoblin

Archer Link

Guardian

Each offers a different assortment of useful items in either combat, cooking, or trading. You’ll find that what you unlock will align with the type of character the amiibo is where applicable.

For instance, the Archer Link amiibo offers an assortment of bows and arrows from chests while the Guardian amiibo chests will drop ancient materials and Guardian weapons.

In addition to all of the Breath of the Wild themed amiibo and the 4 Champion amiiobo, there are quite a few Zelda and non-Zelda themed amiibo figures as well as cards.

Naturally, the Zelda themed amiibo are going to be the most useful because while the random mash up of other games’ amiibo will provide items, they’re going to be a random collection of materials.

Zelda themed amiibo can drop cool gear as well as weapons and a few pieces of meat simply don’t compare.

Super Mario Odyssey

Super Mario Odyssey is like Breath of the Wild in that it was a bit of a shakeup for the series by way of reexamining what it is to be a 3D Mario.

While Odyssey’s allowance for open traversal in its zones isn’t exactly new to the series, the introduction of Mario’s sidekick Cappy greatly changes the way the game can be played as a platformer.

Cappy is a hat that Mario wears on his head that gives way to much more than just a personified fashion statement. Cappy can be used to platform, remove obstacles, and most notably, embody objects and enemies when thrown directly at them.

This sort of possession allows for some of the most truly creative and expressive gameplay that has been seen in a 3D Mario game. It flips the age old standard of traversal and combat in the series and adds an entirely new dimension of mechanical play.

Super Mario Odyssey amiibo Unlocks

In terms of amiibo support, Odyssey isn’t as game changing as Breath of the Wild, but it does bring quite a few cool outfits to the game. Because that is what amiibo support in Odyssey amounts to – cosmetic content.

There are 3 main Super Mario Odyssey themed amiibo and then a litany of various amiibo thematically centered around other Mario titles as well as non-Mario Nintendo games.

Here are 3 the Odyssey amiibo and what they unlock in the game:

Bowser – Unlocks a Bowser themed wedding outfit

Mario – Unlocks a Mario themed wedding outfit

Peach – Unlocks a Peach themed wedding dress

Some other neat outfit unlocks from other Mario themed amiibo include:

Waluigi (Smash Bros.) amiibo – Unlocks a Waluigi outfit in all its purple and black

Whether or not buying additional amiibo for Odyssey is worth it for you is entirely dependent upon how much you value cosmetics in games. Cosmetics in Odyssey are akin to those in games such as Overwatch or League of Legends in that they basically amount to skins.

Odyssey is also alike to those games in that there are free skins obtainable solely through gameplay as well as those you can buy with real money. It’s just that in Mario you’re purchasing items which also happen to be physical figurines.

Also keep in mind that there are many additional amiibo that unlock skins in Odyssey not listed above, so you could in fact already own several compatible amiibo if you’ve been buying them over the years.

Splatoon 2

The original Splatoon blasted ink onto the scene in 2015 and made us all rethink what it takes to be a competent modern shooter. Nintendo took one look at the modern FPS landscape and decided to disregard most constructs of the genre, instead diving head first into left field.

The follow up to this new ambitious Nintendo IP, Splatoon 2, was released exclusively for the Switch on July 21, 2017, and offered new owners of the hybrid home console a refreshing addition to the young catalog of the system.

What exactly is Splatoon?

Technically speaking, Splatoon 2 is a third person team based shooter but a box like this hardly meets the mark. Players control their characters, called inklings, and shoot opposing players with ink in order to “kill” them.

But what makes this game stand out from other first and third person shooters is its handling of traversal. The ink used to extinguish enemies can also be used to paint floors and walls of maps.

And any paint, or ink, that your team has spread upon floors and walls can be used to dive into and swim through. Swimming through ink not only allows for faster movement, but also expands the notion of what it is to get from point A to point B entirely.

There is even a gametype, called Turf War, where the sole purpose is to paint the map with more ink than the opposing team.

Splatoon 2 succeeds in expanding upon traversal archetypes much in the same way that Titanfall did. It’s truly a breath of fresh air for those tired of traditional, and painfully ordinary, movement and shooter gameplay mechanics.

Splatoon 2 amiibo Unlocks

Splatoon 2’s amiibo are like those in Breath of Wild in that they actually influence gameplay, but they differ from both Mario and Zelda in that the collection of compatible amiibo is much more tame by comparison.

Unlike those two games, you won’t find dozens of compatible amiibo from various Nintendo franchises. And to be fair, Splatoon is a fresh IP from Nintendo so it doesn’t have decades of games that precede the latest installment.

Here are the amiibo that you can use with Splatoon 2 and what they each unlock:

Callie – Unlocks the Hero Replica Outfit and perks for faster swimming, faster running, and faster super jump. The set of gear will only unlock after completing the single player portion of the game.

Marie – Unlocks include the Armor Replica Outfit and perks for tenacity, special charge up, and ink saver. Like Callie’s set, the Armor Replica Outfit will only unlock after completing single player.

Inkling Boy (2015 and 2016 model) – Unlocks include the Samurai Outfit and perks for special charge up, special power increase, and quick super jump.

The game will offer free additional content updates in the future without any incessant forms of microtransactions. A brand new big update was just released on November 23 and a new mode is expected to drop sometime in the near future.

All Other amiibo Compatible Switch Games

Mario, Zelda, and Splatoon are our 3 top picks for Switch games with amiibo support but there are certainly others worth checking out depending on your tastes.

Here is a list of all the current Switch games with amiibo support:

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – The Mario Kart 8 you know and love…just a little more of it. What makes Mario Kart 8 Deluxe different from standard Mario Kart 8? New characters, karts, and general tweaks to the game. For example, these are the new characters:

Inkling Girl

Inkling Boy

King Boo

Bowser Jr.

Dry Bones

Gold Mario

Skyrim – The open world fantasy RPG from Bethesda finally makes its debut on a Nintendo platform. And there’s now a chance to play with the Master Sword and other Zelda inspired gear.

Fire Emblem Warriors – Warriors isn’t your typical Fire Emblem affair, leaning towards being a musou game, but it could scratch an itch for fans of games like Dynasty Warriors or those deeply seated in the Fire Emblem franchise.

Pokken Tournament DX – This 2D/3D Pokemon fighter hybrid is a port of the Wii U game but its the perfect mash up of two things many gamers are passionate about. And there really isn’t any other Pokemon or fighting games on the Switch as of yet.

Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle – This Nintendo/Ubisoft crossover is one of the best examples of Nintendo’s zaniness on the Switch. Conceptually, it took the unexpected turn long ago, and the gameplay is that of something akin to games like XCOM: Enemy Unknown. Truly, this a game that no one saw coming unless they were browsing rumors.

There are already a healthy amount of Switch games with amiibo support but we’re sure some of the best are still yet to come. The platform isn’t even 1 year old, and the amount of room for growth in everything from games to system features such as a virtual console, is staggering.

It also helps that there are large swaths of amiibo figures and cards that have been created in previous years.

Be sure to check back as we will add more of the best Switch games with amiibo support as they roll out or, alternatively, head over to Nintendo’s official amiibo page.